Viral marketing relies on individuals to spread a message through existing communication networks. It is cost-effective and can reach more people than traditional advertising. Different types include pass-through messages, incentivized posts, undercover viral advertising, and gossip or buzz marketing. Effective campaigns avoid backlash and ensure a high pass rate.
Viral marketing or advertising is a marketing strategy that relies on individuals rather than traditional campaigns to convey a message to others. It usually refers to Internet marketing. This style of marketing got its name because of the tendency for messages to use “hosts” to spread rapidly, like a biological virus.
The term “viral marketing” first became apparent when it was used to describe a marketing campaign for the Hotmail.com email service. When the company launched, every outgoing message contained an advertisement for Hotmail and a link to its website at the bottom of the email. While people were emailing their friends and colleagues, they were also advertising the service. Recipients could simply click the link and register, and as they emailed friends from their new account, the message spread within existing social networks and was broadcast with minimal effort by the company.
This example demonstrates all the key elements of viral marketing. Its cost to the advertiser is minimal. Instead, it leverages existing resources by turning everyone who uses the product into an involuntary spokesperson. Leverage common behaviors, like sending an email.
Viral marketing uses already existing communication networks. In the case of Hotmail, it implies approval from a friend. People who have received an email from a friend using the service have learned that the product works and that their friends are using it. And most importantly, this style of marketing offers the ability to get a message out exponentially faster and to more people than conventional third-party advertising campaigns.
There are different types of viral marketing, all using the same basic principles. Pass-through messages encourage users to send them together with others, like emails with forwarding instructions below or funny video clips. Incentivized posts offer rewards in exchange for providing email addresses. Undercover viral advertising features messages on an unusual page or fake news without any direct incitement to broadcast it, in the hopes that word of mouth will spread the message. Gossip or buzz marketing tries to get people talking about something by creating controversy.
Viral marketing has been criticized by consumers, privacy advocates, and marketers due to concern about spam email. The best campaigns, however, use viral marketing principles tactically to avoid backlash and ensure a high pass rate, the number of recipients who will pass on the message to others. Just like common cold, effective viral advertising uses people to unknowingly broadcast a message within their social network. It takes the concept of word of mouth and enhances it with the instantaneous global communication offered by the Internet.
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